Client accused of destroying flatmate's home - NFA

Case study summary

We were approached by this client to represent him at his first interview under caution. He explained that he had parted from his flat mate on bad terms and as a result they had accused him of criminal damage.

We convinced the police to take no further action.

Case study

Our client decided to move to Manchester and arranged to pay rent to the complainant in this case at short notice. They initially got along well, however, the friendship turned sour and our client decided to move out of the flat and stay with some friends.

When he did this, he left much of his property behind and took steps to arrange to come and collect it. The complainant chose to accuse our client of damaging his flat while they had been living together after several miscommunications about when our client would come to collect his property.

While receiving disclosure from the investigating officer it became clear he had no interest in pursuing this case further. The officer explained that the allegations against our client were that he had damaged a lamp, mattress, carpet and a door, and that he would be questioned on failing to pay rent to his flat mate.

We attended the interview with our client and took detailed instructions from him about his side of the story. He explained that the complainant was angry that they had fallen out and was blaming him for things that were not his fault to get back at him. Our client explained that he had always paid rent and could demonstrate this with his bank statements.

A prepared statement was put forward on our client's behalf denying that he was responsible for any of the damage and explaining that the allegation was being made maliciously.

Less than one week later the police chose to take no further action on the case. Our client was very pleased with this result and could move on from the investigation.